How the world’s best hot dog originated in the Sonoran desert

Most nutrient stories don’t impact the FBI. But sometimes — if the nutrient is worthy capable to make specified a disturbance — an FBI probe mightiness follow. In this case, I’m talking astir blistery dogs on the U.S.-Mexico border, and successful this peculiar instance, the FBI was brought successful and concluded that 1 blistery canine vendor set up an extortion racket against his apical blistery canine competitor. Such mediocre taste.

If you’ve ever spent clip successful Baja California, Sonora, California, Arizona oregon Texas, you’ve surely travel crossed it: hardworking migrant vendors lining the sidewalk during a sports lawsuit oregon large concert, with a legion of pushcarts selling the same, heavenly-scented food: bacon-wrapped blistery dogs.

The root of the bacon blistery canine successful Mexico

This bacon-wrapped “Chucho Dog” is courtesy of Daniel Contreras astatine El Güero Canelo successful Arizona, victor of a James Beard grant for his blistery canine expertise. However, the bacon-wrapped blistery dog’s origins prevarication southbound of the border. (Facebook)

The odor of greasy bacon being grilled connected a flat-iron blistery canine cart, mingling with the saccharine aroma of sautéed onions and peppers, is simply a invited aroma astatine immoderate nationalist gathering (particularly aft a precocious nighttime out, erstwhile different accepted nutrient businesses and restaurants person already closed their kitchens). 

Many — including myself — would ne'er surmise that 1 of the astir ubiquitously American foods (a bacon-wrapped blistery dog, of each things) really arrived successful the state done migration patterns successful bluish Mexico. The ballpark-favorite frankfurter isn’t from Dallas oregon Phoenix oregon Los Angeles: it’s from Sonora’s arid capital, Hermosillo. There, the tasty determination point is considered arsenic belovedly Mexican arsenic tacos oregon tamales, and it has been astir for longer than 1 mightiness assume.

It each technically dates backmost to the 1940s, erstwhile historians judge that U.S.-style blistery dogs archetypal arrived successful Mexico done either a traveling circus, bullfights oregon baseball games (the reports are conflicting). One American blogger claims that a young brace of entrepreneurs came to Mexico City and began to merchantability blistery dogs astatine Plaza Mexico — a concern program that turned them into world-traveling millionaires, supposedly. 

The Sonoran dogo

These still-baconless wonders were a deed with Mexican consumers, and from determination began to proliferate into different arenas and avenues. From there, blistery dogs made their mode into the mainstream Mexican fare and were yet adapted successful section ways. Sonoran “dogueros,” successful peculiar — thoroughfare vendors who bordered the U.S. successful a authorities already known for their beef affinity and shot adoration — were successful an perfect presumption to elevate the perro caliente for Mexicans and beyond.

Here’s what that looks similar today: bacon-hugged “weenie” that gets sliced down the mediate and filled with a instrumentality of cheese, past grilled and inserted into a larger-than-usual bolillo-style bun to beryllium topped with diced tomatoes, avocado, onions (both earthy and grilled), pinto beans, lettuce, chorizo and different accepted and unorthodox condiments, from mayonnaise and ketchup to jalapeños and güero peppers. If it isn’t vividly clear, these greasy “dogos” are easy customizable and typically well-laden to the brim (there are treble sausage, flour tortilla, and shrimp variations, too).

At slightest 1 Mexican American writer has tried to hint the humanities origins of this dogo — going from Los Angeles to Tucson. Most sources look to constituent to El Güero Canelo — a blistery canine associated successful Arizona — arsenic being a large operator successful the invention’s popularity during the precocious 1980s and aboriginal 90s. Opened and owned by Sonoran migrant Daniel Contreras successful 1993, El Güero Canelo is mostly considered to beryllium the definitive root of the bacon-wrapped weenie’s zeitgeist takeover, which has earned Contreras a lauded James Beard Award. But its roots and essence are intelligibly inactive contiguous crossed the borderline successful Sonora.

Hermosillo’s conflict for preeminence

@la_shamaka NOS FUIMOS A VISITAR LOS FAMOSOS DOGOS DEL MIAMI @Dogos del miami #comida #comidasonorense #hermosillo #sonora #lasdelishas #lashamaka ♬ La Cumbia Sabrosa – Marc Life

According to locals and nutrient vloggers, there’s an ongoing conflict contiguous successful Hermosillo for which dogo is the champion and astir emblematic of the city’s culinary pride. Dogos Del Miami is simply a fashionable one, known for their turkey canine options and, for $50 USD, the “Golden Dubai Dog” — a golden flake-covered Sonoran dog. But determination are besides nameless roadside stands that pull vicinity clientele and person their ain varieties and touches. Aside from the superior of Hermosillo, the state’s second-largest city, Ciudad Obregón, introduces its ain determination flair that further ignites debates astir which dogo is ultimate (Hermosillo adds diced lettuce to the mix, for example, which Obregóneros loyally reject).

The nutrient is casual and on-the-go, a cleanable street-side crockery and casual to instrumentality astir oregon acceptable up arsenic a stall for bare passersby. It is usually accompanied by a super-sized cupful of “uvola” — a determination specialty beverage made from grapes and loaded with crystal to stave disconnected the godforsaken heat. 

It’s elemental to spot wherefore this operation made its mode crossed the borderline and became an instant classical successful the American Southwest and beyond. Mexican culinary ingenuity ne'er disappoints and knows nary limits.

Alan Chazaro is the writer of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is simply a postgraduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People programme astatine UC Berkeley and a erstwhile Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow astatine the University of San Francisco. His penning tin beryllium recovered successful GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, helium is presently based successful Veracruz.